Installing Service And Productivity Tools For Linux - IBM Flex System p260 Installation And Service Manual

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After you install the operating system, install operating system updates, and then install any utilities that
apply to your operating system.

Installing service and productivity tools for Linux

Linux service and productivity tools include hardware diagnostic aids and productivity tools, and
installation aids. The installation aids are provided in the IBM Installation Toolkit for the Linux operating
system, a set of tools that aids the installation of the Linux operating system on IBM compute nodes that
are based on IBM POWER7 Architecture technologies. You can also use the tools to update the IBM Flex
System p260 Compute Node or IBM Flex System p460 Compute Node firmware.
About this task
The hardware diagnostic aids and productivity tools are available as downloadable Red Hat Package
Manager (RPM) files for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES). The
IBM Installation Toolkit for Linux is available as an ISO compact disc (CD) image, which you can use to
create your own CD. The Service and productivity tools for Linux systems site describes how to create a
CD.
The hardware diagnostic aids and productivity tools are required for such hardware reliability,
availability, and serviceability (RAS) functions as first-failure data-capture and error-log analysis. With the
tools installed, problem determination and correction are greatly enhanced and the likelihood of an
extended system outage is reduced.
For example, the update_flash command for installing system firmware updates can be performed only if
the hardware diagnostic aids and productivity tools are installed.
Other tools modify various serviceability policies, manipulate system LEDs, update the bootlist, and
capture extended error data to aid analysis of intermittent errors.
Other commands and a boot-time scanning script constitute a hardware inventory system. The lsvpd
command provides vital product data (VPD) about hardware components.
The Error Log Analysis (ELA) tool provides automatic analysis and notification of errors that are reported
by the platform firmware. ELA writes analyzed error data to /var/log/platform and to the service log. If
a corrective action is required, a notification event sends the event to registered tools and subscribed
users.
Install the Linux operating system before you download and install the hardware diagnostic aids and
productivity tools for Linux. The Installation Toolkit for Power Systems servers running Linux is
provided as-is only. You are not entitled to IBM Software Support for the Installation Toolkit.
Install the Virtual I/O Server and the Integrated Virtualization Manager before you install your Linux
operating system if you plan to have a virtual environment.
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Chapter 4. Installing the operating system